Binghamton NY - New York City NYC Passenger Rail Discussion

[NYCRRson]

What, no High Speed Rail Service from NYC to Scranton and Binghamton? What happened to all that stimulus funding, why this project alone could create or save at least 50,000 jobs................

For my next trick I’m planning on maxing out all my credit cards and buying a personal Boeing 757, I’ve finally gotten into this whole spend my way to prosperity thing, I figure within about 6 more months I will be a multi-millionaire (with a debt of about half a billion, but who cares).

Sorry, but I could not resist. I do like the dandelion comparison………… Sadly it’s WAY too close to the truth.

Cheers, Kevin

[NYCRRson]

Sorry, I doubled checked my numbers and this project will create or save at least 49,783.216 jobs. I should have been more careful with my calculations.

Cheers, Kevin

[Noel Weaver]

This is like Poison Ivy, you cut it down but it keeps coming back.
Noel Weaver

[Otto Vondrak]

The people have spoken. We can revisit this topic when there's some actual NEWS to report.

-otto-

[Jeff Smith]

Much like "Sunset East", this one crops up every once in a while. While I don't think it has near the chance of Sunset East, our job is to inform and generate discussion...

I've got a few other topics to blend in.

Star Gazette

Brief, fair-use per policy:

RAIL SERVICE? April Fool's joke turns serious
...
What was meant to be an April Fool's Day joke about the return of passenger rail service, posted on the Urban Corning website a year ago, generated a surprising amount of positive feedback about the possibility of bringing passenger trains back to the area.

"That’s what set off a groundswell of activity. We had 40,000 impressions on the post. It got shared quite a bit," said Dave Rochelle, who wrote the blog post. "A lot of people didn’t get that it was an April Fool's post, but it did serve to generate conversation about the idea. One of the people who reached out to me was Rob Piecuch."

Rochelle and Piecuch started working on the idea and held a few public forums, which were well-attended. Bruce Becker, of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, spoke at those gatherings.
...
If a feasibility study shows potential for a return of passenger rail service, the first phase would be to establish a route between Hornell and Binghamton, and eventually extend it from Buffalo to New York City, Piecuch said.
...
"Economically, you could get more than double what you put into it," he said. "Binghamton is the largest city in New York state with no passenger rail service. There have been numerous attempts to bring it back. Our goal is to stay on this thing and keep it from running out of steam."

[Jeff Smith]

Note: this topic is not to be confused with the Lackawanna Cutoff Service restoration topic in NJT: viewtopic.php?f=69&t=1580" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[markhb]

Which would make more sense (in a very loose sense of the word): a route from Bingo west through Corning to Buffalo, or one running N-S connecting Syracuse to NYC via Binghamton and (I guess) the Lackawanna cutoff? This question is largely self-serving as the friends I visit in the area live between Binghamton and Syracuse and if I could transfer from the LSL to a route paralleling I-81 it would spare them most of the drive to pick me up!

[Jeff Smith]

Opinion piece: Cornell Sun

Brief, fair-use:

No, an Amtrak Station in Ithaca Is Not an Absurd Idea
...
A simple Google Maps search shows further. The current tracks, operated by private rail freight company Norfolk Southern, head down from Fulton Street to a junction in Waverly and end up going over to Binghamton and Scranton. The tracks then head further south to Allentown, Penn., however, without a current direct connection to the tri-state area. Like Ithaca’s railway, there used to be a connection: an engineering feat, the Lackwanna Cut-Off railroad connected to New York and was abandoned in the 1970s, along with the demise of other railroad companies. Fortunately, through lobbying efforts by senators and commuter advocacy groups aike, construction has already begun to restore the line, with service to Andover, NJ slated to begin in 2020. If the stars align in New Jersey, and New York State plays its role in reviving its portion of the tracks, then a physical connection is not impossible.
...
Operationally, this line would have to contend with competitors that originally killed it in 1961 — the car and bus. Service to New York need to be reliable and under four-hour travel time from the tri-state area to compete against the bus, which takes five or six hours, depending on traffic in the Lincoln Tunnel. The passage should be seamless as well, with substantial connections to other parts of Ithaca from the train station. Cornell, for example, should operate a shuttle from the station to Central Campus that runs on a complementary schedule to the train. The trains themselves need not be gaudy and laden with “Millennial-friendly” expensive technology, but simply maintained, clean and comfortable.

Since coming to Cornell, I have made the journey from home in New York to Ithaca at least twenty times, and I’m sure many of my fellow students have done so as well. This five-hour trip, which is taken either by the bus or the car, is the single biggest competitive disadvantage that Cornell and the Southern Tier has compared to its peers. Buses are plagued with late arrivals, disgusting bathrooms, smelly seats and haphazard driving. While driving is a better alternative, I am personally exhausted, like many Cornell parents, of having to stay mentally alert for five-plus hours or risk death, dealing with Jersey drivers, seedy rest stops, and burning gas and money.
...

[Greg Moore]

It's funny, a few weeks ago, we had to be in Binghamton for one event on Saturday and in Stony Brook for another (college visit).

When we were in Binghamton, my son asked, "is there a train that could have taken us here?" He seemed disappointed there wasn't one to Binghamton from Albany, nor one from Binghamton to NYC.

That said he did choose SUNY Buffalo for college and it sounds like he'll be taking advantage of the train from time to time.

[Greg Moore]

Tying into that... I really do think NYS needs to consider tying in Binghamton to the rest of the state. The map shown on the other thread would be a good idea. But I'd seriously consider making it a triangle.
A train from either Syracuse or Rochester areas (I don't know what tracks exist well enough to say what works best) to Binghamton with connections back up to Albany and to NYP.

[benboston]

NYP - Scranton - Binghamton - Syracuse - Montreal could work

[Noel Weaver]

This won't work, you could do the same trip by bus in less time and at less cost. Binghamton is not that much of a market, Binghamton - Syracuse is ridiculous, a single track branch line with maybe 40 MPH at best, a bus on I-81 would do this trip in maybe 1/4 of the time that it would take a train. As for Montreal, it already has service from New York and Albany and again a bus is a better bet from Syracuse. I am all for passenger trains where they are justified but many small areas of the northeast that have been proposed on here make absolutely little or no sense unless they are within commuting distance of New York, Boston or one of the other major cities in this area.
Noel Weaver

[benboston]

If so the closest thing that I can think of would be to have the empire corridor skip Albany and just go to NYP - Scranton - Binghamton - SRY - ROC - BFX

[Noel Weaver]

This is even more ridiculous, Albany is one of the largest markets in the entire Amtrak system.

Noel Weaver

[benboston]

Sorry, I completely agree I meant that they just have one roundtrip per day of the Empire Service that goes on this route instead of going to ALB, or have a few cars split off at NYP and have they join back up at SRY.